Islam in Turkey's foreign policy: 2014-2020

Sammanfattning: The Islamization of the Turkish state has been the center of much attention since the beginning of Erdoğan’s time in government, and yet a noticeable lack of contemporary analysis surrounding Islam in Turkish foreign policy can be observed. Drawing from the IR theories of liberalism and constructivism, this paper aims to partially fill this gap by examining the effects of Islam on Turkey’s foreign policy between 2014-2020 by means of a qualitative case study.  The paper argues that the changes made to certain institutions have permitted Islamic values to affect Turkey’s foreign policy, and that Islam has in many regards been transformed into an instrument of the AKP’s soft power abroad. This has had the effect of both improving and deteriorating Turkish economic and political cooperation with other countries. Furthermore, Islamic values and beliefs appear to have both positive and negative implications on Turkey’s relationships with many countries, while the furthering of relations with Israel and China indicate an approach devoid from any Islamic influence. It is summarily argued that Islam is present in Turkey’s foreign policy, albeit with great inconsistency.